Seventh-grader shares first book with other students

Special to the TIMES NEWS Camaryn Wheeler, a seventh-grade student at St. John Neumann Regional School's Palmerton campus, proudly holds a copy of the book she authored, "The Talking Dolls."

By TERRY AHNER tahner@tnonline.com

Rare are the instances when children receive a visit from a published author.

Even rarer, still, is when that author turns out to be one of their very own, as was the case for pupils at St. John Neumann Regional School's Slatington campus.

In this instance, the author was Camaryn Wheeler, a seventh-grade student at the school's Palmerton campus, who took time to read to the pupils in recognition of Read Across America.

As part of her visit, Wheeler gave a brief talk about what it takes to write a book, and read the first chapters from her book, "The Talking Dolls." She then answered questions from the pupils.

Wheeler told the pupils she began to write when she was in second grade. From then on, she would bring her book to school in third and fourth grade, where the girls in her class would read pages at recess and give suggestions.

After she finished writing the book while in fifth grade, Wheeler said it took 1 1/2 years to get it published. While the work was hard, she told the pupils it was worth the wait.

So much so, that Wheeler said she has since written three more books that she would like to have published.

"Always encourage and support each other to follow his or her dreams," Wheeler said. "You never know what someone might achieve. Look at me."